Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays
Originally uploaded by Lost in Scotland

Wishing all the good people of the realm, a very happy Holiday and Hogmany!

Nollaig shona duit! (many times over)
Love,

Lady Delanie

Running away to join the…

CIRCUS!

There is a 75 year old tradition in Evansville, Indiana, that brightens up tens of thousands of lives starting Thanksgiving Day: The Hadi Shrine Circus.

Though not exactly the greatest show on earth, it is one the premier Shrine Circus in North America and one of the last great three-ring circuses in the world.

Yesterday, Lady Suzanne, Amy, and Lucy adopted a “little boy” and took him to the circus.

This is his story.

When the little boy arrived to the circus he found other children riding elephants and ponies down on the main floor. And clowns! (No, the children were not riding the clowns, they were just down there doing clown doings).

Finally, it was time for the real circus to start. The ringleader’s whistle blew, the orchestra began playing Entrance of the Gladiators and, WHOO-HOO, hold on to your horses becuase here come the elephants!

Acts included high wire acrobatics, daredevils high above the circus floor, and animal acts of all kinds including monkeys (what little boy doesn’t love monkeys) lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

Of course, no circus would be complete without CLOWNS. Now, I know that some people don’t like clowns (Jack Handy is one: "To me, clowns aren’t funny. In fact, they’re kinda scary. I’ve wondered where this comes from and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus and a clown killed my dad").

Anyway, this little boy was not afraid of clowns and had his picture taken with a couple of Hadi Funsters.

Wait! Since when do little boys have old, gray mustaches?

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a few clowns short of a circus...

but I do love clowns. In fact, I used to be one a long time ago (with Lady Suzanne at a church) and we have even made a special trip the Ringling Museum of the Circus in Sarasota, Florida.

I used to juggle and make feeble attempts at balloon animals. The conversation with a child usually went something like this:

Me: Here you go.

Kid: What is it?

Me: What do you think it is?

Kid: I can't tell. Maybe a dog?

Me: Exactly. Such a bright lad.

(Needless to say my clown days did not last too long)

To make a long circus story short, this “little boy” had a great time at the circus.

Now, I know that it’s rare to get the opportunity to go to a real circus, but that doesn’t mean we can't take the time each day to see the world with childlike wonder and create ways to make every day a circus day.

My challenge today is to create “circus opportunities” -- to ride an elephant or pony (even if it's just a carousel), or be a clown (and make a child laugh), or teach your pet bear to ride a bicycle (?), or be a high flying daredevil (on the monkey bars at a playground) or …



I guess I'm not going to run away with the circus this year; however, I am going to try to find ways to create a little circus act in my life from time to time. Send in the clowns!



May all your days be circus days.

Sir "Boo Boo the Clown" of Greenbriar

December 1: Just Another Day?

OK, December 1 is obviously the first day of the last month of the year. I have a friend who always sends out a Happy New Month email, and Lady Allwinky and her best friend try to beat each other to the phone to say, "Rabbit, Rabbit!" on the first day of each month.

December 1 is 4 days before the repeal of the Prohibition Act and 6 days before the "Day that will live in infamy!", as declared by FDR after the Japanese Invasion of Pearl Harbor, which was 57 years before the Japanese invaded the Evansville area with a Toyota plant.

So, what's so special about December 1? Here's a few tidbits I found for your historical pleasure:

1135: Henry I of England dies
1420: Henry V of England enters Paris
1640: Portugal proclaims their own King and succeeds from Spain
1821: The first Constitution of Costa Rica is issued
1822: Peter the 1st is crowned Emperor of Brazil
1884: Deputy Sherriff Eflego Baca in Frisco, New Mexico holds off a band of 80 Texan cowboys who try to free a friend that the Deputy had arrested
1913: The Ford Motor Company starts its first assembly line
1919: Lady Astor becomes the first female member of the British Parliament
1940: Comedian Richard Pryor is born
1941: The Civil Air Patrol is formed
1960: Paul McCartney and Pete Best are arrested and deported from Hamburg, Germany on attempted arson charges
1969: The first lottery for the Vietnam War draft begins
1981: AIDS is officially recognized
1982: Barney Clark becomes the first person with an artificial heart
1990: The Channel Tunnel two sections between England and France meet
1998: Exon buys Mobil to create the worlds largest oil company
2001: Captain Bill Compton brings TWA Flight 220 in for a landing at St. Louis, MO, marking the last flight for TWA after 76 years of operation

So, let's go out and make some history today!

Sir Hook I Have Nothing Better to Say of Warrick